Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is cautioning that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to commute the sentences of 548 people on California’s death row could eventually open the door for some convicted murderers to seek release. More than 100 of those cases are from Los Angeles County.
In an exclusive interview with the California Post, Hochman cited the Menendez brothers’ high-profile resentencing fight as a warning that life without parole does not always guarantee a prisoner will remain behind bars until death. The case was among the first major matters Hochman inherited after taking office in December 2024.
“The Menendez case is exhibit A to show that that statement is just simply not accurate,” Hochman told The Post, disputing Newsom’s assurance that the condemned inmates would spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were initially facing the death penalty for the 1989 shotgun killings of their parents in Beverly Hills. In 1996, however, they were sentenced to life without parole. Nearly 30 years later, a judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life under California’s resentencing laws, making them eligible for parole because they were younger than 26 when the murders occurred.
Hochman opposed the resentencing after taking over the case from his predecessor, George Gascón, who had supported reducing the brothers’ punishment.
Hochman now says families of victims could face similar uncertainty if the killers of their loved ones are spared execution.
“When Newsom goes ahead and says, as he did in his announcement, that these individuals, even though they’re no longer on death row, will spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars, he can’t say that with any degree of certitude,” Hochman said.
Newsom announced Thursday that he would commute all 548 California death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole, expanding on his longstanding opposition to capital punishment.
The governor, who established a moratorium on executions in 2019, defended the move on moral grounds. He argued that the death penalty cannot be administered fairly within an imperfect criminal justice system.
“I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency,” Newsom wrote in an open letter.
“These offenders will die in prison but not by our hand,” he added.
Hochman, however, questioned both the timing and the broad scope of the commutations.
“It felt like he woke up one day, seven years into his term, on the eve of leaving, and decided that he had the moral imperative to commute all these sentences,” Hochman said.
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He said the governor’s action would affect more than 100 Los Angeles County cases.
Hochman also accused Newsom of failing to consult victims’ families before making the announcement. Relatives who endured years of trials, appeals and sentencing proceedings, he said, were left facing a fresh wave of uncertainty.
“It sort of has the tragedy replayed once again for them,” Hochman said.
Several victims’ relatives expressed similar frustration.
“It’s total disrespect for the victims. It’s a slap in the face,” Sandy Friend, whose 8-year-old son, Michael Lyons, was abducted, raped and murdered in 1996, told the Los Angeles Times.
Phyllis Loya, whose son Larry Lasater was a Pittsburg police officer killed in the line of duty, also condemned the governor’s decision.
“He doesn’t care about us,” Loya told the Los Angeles Times, accusing Newsom of showing more concern for convicted killers than for their victims.
The commutations also face a legal obstacle: The California Supreme Court must approve clemency for inmates with multiple felony convictions.
California has not executed a prisoner since 2006, and Newsom’s action does not eliminate the state’s death penalty.
Hochman said his office will continue reviewing cases in which prosecutors could seek the death penalty. However, none of the more than 50 cases examined since he took office has met his standards for pursuing capital punishment.
He acknowledged that his office cannot overturn Newsom’s constitutionally granted clemency decisions, but promised to intervene if any of the affected prisoners later pursue release.
“If these cases come back into court, in other words, if they’re able to somehow seek parole at some point in the future, our office will get very involved with that,” Hochman said.
The LAPD declined to comment.
